Lystek signs two biosolids contracts in California

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada-based Lystek International Ltd. has been awarded what it calls multi-year, multi-million-dollar contracts by two cities in California to manage the handling and conversion of biosolids.

Lystek says the cities of Benicia and Palo Alto have signed separate agreements that will result in Lystek accepting biosolids generated in both cities and converting them into a fertilizer product called LysteGro. The materials will be converted at what Lystek calls a 150,000-tons-per-year organic material recovery center (OMRC-FSSD), located at a Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District (FSSD) in Fairfield, California.

The OMRC-FSSD opened in August 2016 with a baseline volume of 14,000 tons per year, according to Lystek. The facility features a low-temperature thermal hydrolysis process that Lystek says it is scaling toward the 150,000-ton capacity while securing volume commitments from what it calls a growing list of Bay area and other California agencies, including in San Francisco, Petaluma and Santa Rosa.

“These two contract awards demonstrate a growing recognition of Lystek as the preferred biosolids management partner for agencies in and around the San Francisco Bay area,” says Jim Dunbar, general manager of the California facility and the western U.S. market for Lystek. “Our customers want to be sustainable and seek practical, reliable biosolids and organics management solutions. The OMRC-FSSD is the critical centerpiece in providing responsible, resource recovery services in this market.”

California regulations on the use and management of organics, including biosolids, are rapidly evolving, offering opportunities for Lystek technology that treats such materials as recoverable resources for the production of biofertilizers, energy or alternative sources of carbon, according to the firm.

“Even before the regulatory landscape started to change in California, many communities were looking for ways to transition from disposal to beneficial use,” says Dunbar. “Lystek offers a solution that is sustainable over the long term and that provides a true resource recovery model. These agreements allow us to help forward-thinking agencies participate in the green cities movement.”